Some vehicle models seem to be born lemons. Whether it’s through faulty design, poor manufacturing or plain dumb luck, some models experience the same problems over and over again.

It could be a transmission that gives out well before its time. Or maybe the electrical system decides it no longer wants to open doors automatically. Once you start talking to other owners with the same vehicle, you realize that, oh, everyone has this problem.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have that information before buying your next car?

The most complained about cars this year

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the go-to source for car complaint information. The federal agency collects consumer complaints and files them away in a public database. If too many complaints come in about a safety issue, the NHTSA may investigate and require a recall.

Jack Gillis, a consumer advocate, analyzes the NHTSA data each year and assigns vehicles an index score based on the number of complaints compared with the vehicle’s sales. These are the vehicles topping the 2014 Car Complaint Index:

Nissan Pathfinder

Infiniti QX60

Hyundai Santa Fe

Ford Focus

Cadillac ATS

While the top three vehicles had complaint index scores above 20,000 — 29,527, 23,691 and 23,657, respectively – the number drops off significantly between the third and fourth spot, with the Ford Focus having an index score of 13,179. Again, these numbers represent an index score and are not the actual number of complaints.

Do your homework before buying

While the Car Complaint Index can be helpful in weeding out models with the most complaints, what about when you want to buy that 2009 Chevy Uplander or 2012 VW Jetta? How do you know if those might be a headache waiting to happen?

Before buying a used car, head to the NHTSA website and search for complaints yourself. You’ll find the 2009 Uplander has two complaints, one regarding the electrical system and the other about engine power. Meanwhile, the 2012 Jetta has 102 complaints, one investigation and three recalls.

Of course, it’s not surprising that more popular cars may have more complaints. Rather than looking at the number of complaints, it may be more beneficial to scan them for common themes. Is the same problem occurring again and again? Then, before buying a used car, ask whether that particular problem has already occurred and been fixed.

It's not the usual blah, blah, blah

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